The town of Oakhurst has had an auction each year for over a dozen years, selling the fruit of the Golthias tree, with magical healing properties, and known locally as the Goblin Apple. Each year, the farmers conspired to get the apple without regard for the fruit itself, but rather for the seeds. Each year the tried to grow their own, but the ugly saplings disappeared around the time the next fruit was auctioned.
Meanwhile, Lady Hycrule has moved into the local dilapidated castle and started to fix things up. She is looking for her cousins who were adventuring in this area before they disappeared. They had been investigating the rumors of citadel that disappeared hundreds of years ago. Some say it was destroyed by a dragon.
One warm day in late June, a caravan pulled into town with four adventurers, Taris, Areond, Trevalleian, and Aragolas. Interested in the local legend of powerful healing magic, they outbid the local farmers and took a contract to protect the saplings overnight. In the meantime, Taris befriended Lady Hycrule and Areond befriended a traveling paladin, Jan, as well as accepting help of another adventurer.
That night, their rest was interrupted by a bugbear intent on taking the saplings. They were surprised to discover that the saplings had become animated, and upon being pulled out of the ground, they fled to the forest along with the bugbear. Areond trapped one sapling, but the farmers were not impressed.
In the morning, Aragolas parted ways with the group and went off arm-in-arm with the other adventurer who had passed the night with them. The rest of the group decided to investigate further and headed into the forest to track the bugbear. After a few hours, they fought through living tree blights and arrived on the other side of the forest to find a rocky valley. Many of the boulders were marked with unfriendly scrawling, though they chose not to sound out the unknown language. Discovering a hole with a rope descending down a steep slope, they climbed in. The dirt passageway gave way to a staircase carved of stone, down to the rumored citadel.
Seeing signs of goblins, the party entered cautiously. The place was infested with snakes, and soon they met a weeping kobold. Through his sobbing, Meepo the kobold communicated that he had lost his dragon and wanted help finding it again. Meepo guided the party into a part of the citadel populated by the lizard-like kobold folk. Their queen offered the party a reward for the return of their dragon, stolen recently by filthy goblins. Meepo is offered as a guide to enter the goblin's part of the citadel from behind rather than through the main entrance.
Though initially withholding secrets, Meepo learned to trust the party, and showed that his ability to help outmatched his stature as they cleared out an unholy chapel of undead protectors, remnants of the original builders. Despite his warning of unnecessary danger, the party made sure to cover their back from ambush and clear out a side passage of snakes. After setting off an ancient poison trap, they discovered the remains of one of the Hycrule cousins in the form of his signet ring. Then, they entered the lair of an ancient evil snake who claimed to be the mother of all the snakes in the citadel. Her attempts to see into their innermost thoughts were thwarted, but she tried to convince them to help her uncover a great secret power. In a ruse to lure the giant beast from her lair, they agreed, but then ambushed her and quickly dispatched the monster. Trevalleian took the head as a trophy, and they soon cleared out the adult snakes remaining, though were disappointed to find no treasure beyond the scales of the serpents themselves.
Finally, the group was ready to invade the goblin settlement. After slaying the guards at back entrance, they unlocked a prison cell to find an old goblin chieftain reading a document. It soon became clear that he was seeking the light which had resulted in a coup. Areond freed the former chief, directing him to the Catholic church in Oakhurst. Soon after, they discovered the chamber where the dragon was at, though it was unclear if the dragon was prisoner or perfectly at home. A small white dragon, Calcryx shows no signs of friendliness, and in fact freezes Meepo into an ice cube with a blast of his breath. The party decides to leave and keep exploring the goblin owned area. A little later, they discovered where all the goblins are; a large cathedral-like room was filled with goblins of every sort, guards and warriors, women and children, hobgoblins and even a goblin sorcerer. The goblins were in fact mounting an offense against the kobolds at that very moment. Once the combat began, the party made a plan to lure the dragon into the fight, sure that it would take revenge against its captors. Taris flung open the door of the dragons room, fired an arrow, and took off running with the rest of the party in tow. The dragon rose to the bait and followed them to the battle. Unfortunately for the kobolds, the goblins had done quick work. The casualties were high on both sides, but the hobgoblin leaders and the remaining survivors were plundering what treasures they could find. With the arrival of Calcryx, they fled out another way.
An icy blast from the dragon split the party, some going after the escaping goblins, and others fleeing towards the entrance of the citadel. The dragon followed after the one he despised most: Taris. In a desperate burst of magical aptitude, Taris incapacitated Calcryx with magical laughter. As the dragon lay prone on the floor unable to catch a breath through induced laughter, the party all headed for the door the goblins had fled through. Slamming and locking the door, they set a trap in case the dragon tried to follow. Next, they followed the hobgoblin party into a dark passageway opening into the Underdark. The dangerous tales they had heard were immediately confirmed as they saw the goblins get devoured by some foul beast hanging from the ceiling. The party elected to follow a different tunnel back towards the citadel.
The tunnel they chose lead to a lower level of the citadel. Lit by mushrooms, the foundation area was damp and mossy, and maybe slightly crumbly. One hallway had a set of rooms on either side where they found goblins resting, working, and guarding. In one room, a rat was strapped to a table and a goblin poked at black, fibrous lumps protruding from the rat. Seeing a doctor at work, they silently closed the door behind them. However, two goblin guards stopped them from going any further. After a short questioning, the scene became violent. A table upturned for cover was splintered in the melee, but everything was over in less than a minute.
Carefully, they moved along and came into a much better formed area, a wide stone hallway with dragon-related reliefs on the walls. A few large doors indicated rooms, but their exploration was cut short again by a guard. A female bugbear, heavily armored and armed with a sickle-headed glaive, she began to question them. Before this interview could go the same way as the previous, Taris turned on the charm and asked to be brought to the one in charge. Somewhat impressed, she agreed to see what Belak had to say about it, and began to lead the way.
Could it be? The name Belak had shown up in rumors, a strange druid who showed up a few years before the goblins started auctioning the fruit. Maybe the adventurers were finally getting the root of things. But first, Areond needed to satisfy his curiosity about the dragon lore embedded into the walls. Wall by wall, to the increasing impatience of their guide, Areond scraped moss from walls and took notes of the various scenes depicted, each one a more violent scene of destruction than the last. Detecting more than a note of annoyance in the bugbear, the party continued north, past an exquisite garden under glass as well as several large stone doors into other areas. Meanwhile, Trevalleian had escaped the notice of the bugbear and followed stealthily behind. Peering into one of the side doors, he discovered goblins tending a sort of underground greenhouse.
The group passed through another chamber with a pedestal and a stone dragon statue casting a dark shadow on the wall. Delay and discussion here brought the bugbear to her last nerve, and she began to threaten them if they didn't get a move on. Passing through the decrepit remains of a library, they came to a dark set of stairs. Their reluctance to enter finally pushed the bugbears patience beyond the limit. She growled "You'll come along dead or alive" and lunged at the closest adventurer.
After a short-lived scuffle, the bugbear was dispatched. The party decided to take a moment to rest and explore their surroundings a little more thoroughly. They found a few things of interest in the library, but were delayed in the altar room. The pedestal was clearly marked with writing and stood directly in front of the dragon statue. After a full thirty minutes of discussion, leading to argument, leading to theological mockery, a plan was decided on. They would put the body of the bugbear on the pedestal and recite the incantation. When this had no effect, a volunteer stood and recited the words. This did have an effect; a cloud of red dust or steam came from the dragon's stone mouth and enveloped him. Rather than being a trap, it was a charismatic blessing. It seems that dragon cult leaders would use this to increase their ability to persuade their followers back when the citadel was in good repair.
This experience also seemed to steady their nerves and prepare them to enter the dark tunnel. It quickly led back up to a stone corridor, once again softly lit by lichens and mushrooms. Rounding a corner, they saw a long corridor with a single door halfway down and another turn at the end. As they cautiously approached, the ever-present moss from the walls peeled itself off and began reaching for them. Taris was entangled by one sheet of moss, which wrapped around him and began to propel him toward the end of the tunnel. The other members of the party pulled out torches and quickly burnt up the rest of the moss, freeing their friend. Next, they discovered that the door was locked and began a laborious process of picking it. Minutes ticked by slowly as the two stood guard and one worked on the lock. Finally, it came open. Inside was a small study with plants and shrubs growing in various places. Looting the study revealed a stash of gold, a journal, druidic books, and a set of small animal skulls.
The journal promised to reveal secrets. Much of it was just detailed notes of the fauna and flora in the area, including charts about rainfall, soil composition, and wildlife distribution. But, at times the journal would devolve into something entirely different, almost as if another person were writing. Belak raved about plots and schemes, ways to exert control, but never came to any conclusive action. However, two colleagues are mentioned, by the names of Peradur and Balur.
The study area had another door that took them to the same place the hallway would have taken them. From here, a breach in the wall leads to an outside area, a large cavern full of brushy undergrowth mixed with glowing mushrooms. From far above, slight rays of sun break through the rocky cavernous ceiling. But much more interesting is a mountainous dark tree with several figures standing beneath it. Scattered stone and remnants of walls provided a pathway to approach under cover, but not with stealth. Belak greeted them with an invitation to accept the tree as their new master. Sensing reluctance, he ordered his minions to bring them to the tree. Several tree blights and vine blights sprang up out of their hiding places in the rubble and brush, and the two other humans unquestionably answer to his orders. The one is dressed a paladin, and the other is dressed in robes typical for a magic user. Both have skin that resembles the blackened bark of the massive Golthias tree looming behind everyone.
In the ensuing battle, Trevalleian used the Nightcaller whistle to summon a giant bat and fed it a flame-breath potion to take down the tree. Seeing the flame enveloping everything, Belak fought fire with fire and began to light the brush around them on fire. Taris tried to keep his distance and focus on support with his bow, lest his frail health fail forever. Meanwhile, despite his heavy armor, Areond was able to withstand the heat and deal crushing blows to the humanoids.
Having cleared the evil from under the land and discovered another signet ring identifying those slain as the remainder of the Hycrule adventurers, the party returned to the city. The rest of the goblins had cleared out, and Calcryx had settled down enough to be avoided. The townspeople received the news with mixed feelings. For over 10 years, the farmers had invested their money into this scheme, only to discover that Belak was using them to have his tree blight minions spread across the forest. Areond's offer of 10gp helped only a little as they tried to find a way to return to business and get out of their debts. The local priest was thrilled to have the former chieftain and a few other goblin followers sitting in church and becoming disciples of the nth commandment. Lady Hycrule was much less happy after learning that there was a young dragon free in the vicinity. But she was grateful for news about her cousins, and willing to pay good money for the return of their signet rings.
After these few days of adventure, the group joined a caravan to the city of Iriabor for a bit of rest and a to find a lead on their next adventure.